Stanford EE Computer Systems Colloquium

The Design and Implications of the Wolfram Language

Stephen Wolfram
Wolfram Research

About the talk:

An abstract will be provided.

The topic of the talk will be the Wolfram Language. Wikipedia's
Wolfram Language
entry (abridged here) describes the language:

Wolfram Language is a highly general multi-paradigm programming language
developed by Wolfram Research, that serves as the main interfacing
language for Mathematica. It is designed to be as general as possible,
with emphasis on symbolic computation, functional programming, and
rule-based programming. It is built to represent arbitrary structures
and data.

The language is very large, touching on numerous domains, often
specialized. For example, it includes built-in functions for generating
and running Turing machines, creating graphics and audio, analyzing 3D
models, and solving differential equations.

The Wolfram Language will be bundled with the system software installed
on every Raspberry Pi. Intel Edison, introduced at CES 2014, also
integrates the language. The language will also be integrated in
the Unity game engine.

For the moment, you explore the Wolfram Language on your own.
Use your browser's back-button to return to this page.

There is no downloadable version of the slides for this
talk available at this time.

About the speaker:

Stephen Wolfram has been responsible for multiple revolutionary developments, including: the Mathematica computation system, A New Kind of Science, and the Wolfram|Alpha computational knowledge engine.

Wolfram was educated at Eton, Oxford and Caltech, receiving his PhD in theoretical physics at the age of 20. Wolfram's work on basic science led him to a series of fundamental discoveries about the computational universe of possible programs. Summarized in his best-selling 2002 book A New Kind of Science, these discoveries have not only launched major new directions in basic research, but have also led to breakthroughs in scientific modeling in physical, biological and social domains---as well as defining a broad new basis for technology discovery.

Launched in 1988, Mathematica has revolutionized the way technical computation is done, and has been responsible for countless advances over the past two decades. Starting from a set of fundamental principles devised by Wolfram, Mathematica has continually grown, integrating more and more algorithmic domains, and spawning such technologies as the Computable Document Format (CDF).

Building on Mathematica and A New Kind of Science, Wolfram in 2009 launched Wolfram|Alpha---an ambitious, long-term project to make as much of the world's knowledge as possible computable, and accessible to everyone. Used every day on the web and through apps by millions of people around the world, Wolfram|Alpha defines a fundamentally new kind of computing platform that is turning science-fiction computer intelligence into reality.

In addition to his scientific and technical achievements, Wolfram has been the CEO of Wolfram Research since its founding in 1987. Under Wolfram's leadership, Wolfram Research has become one of the world's most respected software companies, as well as a powerhouse of technical and intellectual innovation, and a major contributor to education and research around the world.